This briefing paper draws on data and findings from the report: Impact of COVID-19 on Privately Run Residential Care Institutions: Insights and Implications for Advocacy and Awareness Raising.

Orphanage trafficking occurs at the nexus of criminal law (human trafficking offences) and child protection regulation. This report examines the intersection of these two legal systems for the purpose of developing a strategy to identify and prosecute orphanage trafficking.

This article compares and contrasts two humanitarian emergencies and their impact on Nepal: these are the Nepal earthquake in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

This article draws on original empirical data to explore the narratives of young Nepali adults who lived in Kathmandu orphanages as children. Through these narratives, the article explores the diverse complexities of the residents' experiences of volunteer tourism and NGO ‘rescue’, and the shortcomings of recent ‘neoabolitionist’ frameworks.

This presentation - delivered by Marinus van IJzendoorn at a 18 November 2020 meeting of the Evidence for Impact Working Group, a working group of the recently launched Transforming Children's Care Global Collaborative Platform - presents evidence of the harmful impacts of institutionalization on children, demonstrates some of the benefits of deinstitutionalization for getting children back on track, and raises questions about gap-year volunteers working in orphanages.

This animated video from Alternative Care Thailand tells the story of a boy in Thailand who is sent to live in an orphanage because his mother feels she is unable to care for him at home, his experiences with volunteers once he arrives at the orphanage, and how the orphanage transitioned to supporting children to live in families.

This article traces the evolution of the recognition of orphanage trafficking broadly, and then focusses on recommendations made by the Australian government following the release of its 2017 Hidden in Plain Sight Report.

This report lays out the results of a preliminary mapping exercise to document the ways in which the United States supports and perpetuates overseas orphanages. It is based on: an analysis of existing data; a literature review of U.S government publications and investments; a review of non-profit organizations and foundation activities; an analysis of key supply chains and stakeholders; and the identification of existing data gaps.

This briefing paper has been compiled using information included in the Out of the Shadows Index - which measures a country’s response to child sexual exploitation and abuse - and the ECPAT Country Overview for Nepal. The brief highlights the risk of sexual exploitation resulting from voluntourism practices, including volunteering in or visiting orphanages.

This column from Volume 23 of the American University Washington College of Law Human Rights Brief explores the links between child abuse in Cambodian orphanages and tourism.